Recent research has examined 1,000 articles that have been shared the most across tech publications such as Mashable, TechRadar, Gizmodo and The Guardian. With this information, the researchers have gained an abundance of information to help any of us who manage technology PR to gain a clearer overview of the approach necessary for maximum exposure.
The research by Buzzstream also informs businesses and brands about metrics such as publication that provides the most links and shares and what topics and keywords appeal most.
The most frequently covered topics
To determine what topics are frequently covered by some of the top online publishers, research was carried out as to what the most commonly occurring words, including the top six which were Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, tech and AI were among the top shared articles.
In addition to words relating to companies, several words were highlighted that could be attributed to funding and acquisition, such as ‘raises’ and ‘deal.’ Other topics that are popular seem to be related to tech launches, with terms such as ‘release date’ and ‘launches.’
Examination of META Tags
META tags essentially feed search engines like Google with information about a webpage and is an integral part of how articles are shown online. Again, there is a lot of crossover shown with the likes of Facebook and Google, but there are also many mentions of artificial intelligence with meta tags contained keywords related to AI and its many funnels, such as machine learning and augmented reality.
The different assets and vernacular journalists are using
Another finding of the research was the most common assets and vernacular used when creating articles. Popular words include data, which was present in 2.9% of headlines and 4.6% of descriptions and report which was used in 2.4% of headlines and 5.4% of descriptions. This suggests that journalists love to have stats to support the stories they write about.
The ideal length of an article
Looking at the information taken from the 1,000 most commonly shared articles enables us to get a better idea as to whether a long-from or short-form process should be taken when creating an article.
Data showed that 50% of published articles will use a word count of 500 words or less, although The New York Times did show trends of favouring longer-form articles. The data also recorded other platforms that seem to be following suit in this regard, with Ars Technica (720 words) and Gizmodo (591 words) showing a longer word count when compared to other platforms.
Where the articles are linking to
Backlinking is essentially a way of telling Google that articles are reputable, and the sharing of such articles can do wonders for SEO. The more links created generally points to journalists citing work, and the New York Times was shown to earn at least 23 links from 50% of its articles.
Another interesting find was that whilst the BBC is recognised as an authoritative news platform, the report seems to be concerned that it only creates an average of 9 links per article - however, that’s probably because the BBC writes articles averaging less than 400 words, so frankly that is a lot of links.
Of course, there’s no way of meeting every single metric in every instance, but the information found within the report will help a technology PR specialist to structure content and media that will increase the chances of coverage, as the content can be tailored to meet the requirements of different platforms.
As well as having to stay on top of recent tech trends, the report also examined sectors including travel, health, entertainment and personal finance.
